Chinese youngster Dong Tian Yao reached his maiden Super 500 semifinal after edging seasoned men’s singles campaigner Ng Ka Long Angus 22-20 21-19 at SATHIO GROUP Australian Open 2026.

The 22-year-old, who never made the main draw at this level before this week, has been on a sensational run after earning promotion from the qualifying list. He defeated Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the first round, then ousted top seed Chou Tien Chen to set up the clash with Ng.

Dong will be joined by a duo of another first-time Super 500 men’s singles semifinalists – Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah and Jason Gunawan. Guwanan overcame Dong’s compatriot Hu Zhe An 21-23 21-18 21-13 in 95 minutes – the longest match of the tournament so far – to seal his progress. Ubaidillah, Dong’s last four opponent, had a more straightforward outing in his 21-7 21-13 win over Justin Hoh.

“Very happy, very grateful to have reached my first Super 500 semifinal,” the 18-year-old Indonesian told Badminton Oceania. “My performance was quite good and went according to what I had prepared for from the start. Hopefully tomorrow I can give my best and advance to the final.”

With 21-year-old Alwi Farhan completing the lineup, none of the four contenders is older than 22, marking first such occurrence since the 2018 edition.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

• The top two women’s singles seeds – Akana Yamaguchi and Pornpawee Chochuwong – are on course for a final showdown after winning in straight games. Pusarla V. Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara are their respective opponents.
• Rachel Allessya Rose/Febi Setianingrum, the only returning reigning champions, kept their women’s doubles title defence alive with a 21-15 21-12 win over third-seeded Bulgarian sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva.
• Presley Smith/Jennie Gai beat Yang Po Hsuan/Hu Ling Fang 21-16 21-11 to become the first American mixed pair to make a Super 500 semifinal.

→ Results (Quarterfinals)

→ Order of play (Semifinals)